Baby born with four legs and two spines ‘thriving’ after life-changing surgery to remove her parasitic twin

Baby Dominique from the Ivory Coast is expected to live a normal and functioning life following the risky six-hour procedure.

By Emma Foster

21st March 2017, 9:54 pm

Updated: 21st March 2017, 9:54 pm

A 10-MONTH-OLD baby girl born with four legs and two spines is "thriving" after rare and life-changing surgery to remove the parasitic twin that was growing out of her.

Little Dominique underwent a risky six hour procedure to separate her from the remnant of her not-fully-developed twin which protruded from her neck and back.

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The rare surgery has been hailed a huge success and baby Dominique is doing well

The baby girl from Ivory Coast was brought to Chicago's Advocate Children's Hospital for the surgery through charity Children's Medical Missions West, which helps find medical care for children who can't get the care in their own countries.

The surgery - which involved separating bone, blood vessels and nerves, removing the mass, then reconstructing her back - was a huge success.

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Little Dominique was born with an undeveloped parasitic conjoined twin attached to her spine

"It's going rather well. She was only in the hospital a total of five days," pediatric and reconstructive surgeon Frank Vicari said.

"She's been home with 'step-mom' and just doing very, very well."

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The parasitic conjoined twin was growing out of Dominque's spine

A parasitic twin is an identical twin that fails to fully separate during development but is dependent on the host's body system.

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It took a team of five surgeons to remove the parasitic twin and reconstruct little Dominique's back

The growth meant little Dominique was unable to do many of the things other 10-month-olds can do - such as turning over.

Without surgery her little heart and lungs would not have been able to sustain the extra limbs - and would have cut her life short.

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Baby Dominique is thriving after the rare surgery

"She wasn't able to do some of the things that normal little kids do, like turn over and sit up and all those types of things," Dr Robert Givens Kellogg, a pediatric neurosurgeon, said.

"Now that we have removed her parasitic twin, she is a more normal girl."

Doctors now believe Dominique will live a normal, fully functioning life - and the brave tot can already sit up on her own again just days after the March 8 surgery.

Dominique is currently being cared for by Nancy Swabb, from Edgebook, Illinois, who volunteered to host her after seeing a Facebook post about her plight - with a picture of her sat on her mum's lap.

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Kind-hearted Nancy Swabb offered to look after baby Dominique while she was in the US for the surgery

Nancy will care for Dominique until she is ready to go home to her family in the Ivory Coast - which is expected to be around mid-April.

"She's been a joy. We really enjoyed having her in our family," she said.

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Baby Dominique can now sit up on her own following the surgery

"We send a lot of photos and updates and so we know that Dominique's family sees what she's doing and seeing that she has two new teeth and she's learning to wave and doing all sorts of special things."

Caring Nancy said she didn't want to think about having to say goodbye to the little girl when she has to return home.

Little Dominique is expected to live a fully-functioning life after the successful surgery

She added: "She has touched our hearts. She's a member of our family. She's pretty amazing."